Assets worth more than Rs 42 crore of a Kolkata-based company have been attached in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged bank fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Monday. A provisional order for attaching 11 properties of Shree Mahalaxmi Corporation Pvt Ltd has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The total value of the assets, as per the ED, is Rs 42.36 crore.
The agency said its probe found that the loan amount of Rs 164 crore taken from the SBI was “diverted after rotating among the bank accounts maintained by various entities and colouring them as genuine business transactions”.
“It was found that various Letters of Credit (LCs) were opened in the name of certain companies against the credit facilities and the same were discounted on the basis of forged invoices, challans etc,” it alleged in a statement.
The LC proceeds, the ED said, were later laundered and siphoned off.
The money laundering case is based on a 2017 FIR and a chargesheet (filed in 2019) of the CBI against the company, its directors and some others “for defrauding the State Bank of India (SBI) to the extent of Rs 164 crore by availing loan on the basis of false/forged documents and utilising the said loan amount for purpose other than for which it was sanctioned”.
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of businessman Raj Singh Gehlot, the owner of Ambience Mall who was arrested in a money laundering case related to Rs 800 crore bank loan alleged fraud case.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Gehlot in July, in an alleged bank loan fraud case worth more than Rs 800 crore. He was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) for committing bank fraud against the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Consortium.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana dismissed the bail plea and said, “considering the nature of allegations, intricate nature of the investigation and the possibility of the applicant/accused attempting to influence the course of the investigation, I am of the considered opinion that the instant bail application is bereft of any merits and the same is accordingly dismissed.”
“…the economic offences are required to be treated as a separate class and bail cannot be granted as a matter of routine…”, Court said.
Earlier, Court while granting custody to ED said, “Investigation of an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA) in itself is an intricate exercise of skills and patience. The very nature of the offence requires sustained interrogation and an intensive analysis of the copious material collected during the course of the investigation. Considering its intricate nature, Investigation under PMLA, for obvious reasons, is a time-consuming process.”
Enforcement Directorates through Advocate Atul Sharma and Advocate Naveen Kumar Matta submitted that his custodial interrogation was required to unearth the end-use of some portion of loan funds in order to ascertain the exact quantum of proceeds of crime for determining the role of various other persons and aides who have assisted in the sanction and diversion of loan funds and also to unearth the entire modus operandi involved in the present case.
Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa appearing for Gehlot forcefully argued that the relevant information about the transactions concerning the loan and its utilization has been mischievously withheld by ED. It was also submitted that even prior to disbursal of the loan amount in question, construction was commenced with the funds of the promoters.
It was submitted that there is no siphoning or misappropriation of loan amount and the amount alleged to be siphoned off was in fact the money that was paid back by AHPL under the instructions of the turnkey contractor to the persons who supplied material and rendered services to AHPL before disbursal of the said loan.
Advocate Tanveer Ahmad Mir also represented businessman RajSingh Gehlot argued that the accused is an old and ailing man with firm roots in the society and he is neither a flight risk nor in a position to tamper with the evidence nor influences the witnesses and he deserves to be admitted on bail.
Last year, the ED had initiated an investigation under PMLA on the basis of an FIR registered by State ACB, Jammu against Aman Hospitality Pvt Ltd (AHPL) and its Directors for money laundering in the construction and development of the 5-star ‘Leela Ambience Convention Hotel’ situated near the Yamuna Sports Complex in Delhi, the investigation agency said.
It stated that investigation under PMLA revealed that a huge part of a loan amount of more than Rs 800 crore, which was sanctioned by a consortium of banks for the hotel project, was siphoned off by AHPL and Raj Singh Gehlot and his associates through a web of companies controlled by them.
A month after Enforcement Directorate arrested Raj Singh Gehlot, owner of Ambience Mall in Gurugram, on money laundering charges, Central Bureau of Investigation has booked him and two other directors of his firm for allegedly siphoning off Rs 289 crore from J&K Bank.
The ED arrested Gehlot last month in an alleged bank loan fraud case worth more than Rs 800 crore. He was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) for committing bank fraud against the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Consortium.
KMC’s Zonal Officer Rajesh Kumar Gupta told PTI that the shopping mall was sealed for not paying the civic body’s dues of Rs 13,36,24,712 that comprises property tax of Rs 10,44,88,848 and the interest of Rs 2,91,35,864.
Mumbai: A special court has allowed “restoration” of properties worth Rs 440 crore of fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), to the Punjab National Bank (PNB).
Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of committing a Rs 14,000 crore scam by obtaining credit facilities fraudulently from the PNB, a public sector bank. The order was passed by V C Barde, special judge for Prevention of Money Laundering Act, last week. The detailed order became available on Thursday.
The PNB in July 2021 had filed multiple applications seeking release of the properties mortgaged with the bank against the credit facilities extended to Nirav Modi’s two firms, Firestar Diamond International Private Ltd (FDIPL) and Firestar International (FIL).
The applications were filed by PNB as an individual claimant and also as lead bank of the PNB consortium and authorized representative of the UBI consortium. The court allowed two pleas seeking the release of properties of FIL worth Rs 108.3 crore and those of FDIPL worth Rs 331.6 crore.
“The claimants’ (banks) quantifiable loss has been recognized by the DRT (Debt Recovery Tribunal) who has passed judgments in their favor,” the court noted.
During its probe, the ED attached several properties owned by Nirav Modi though his family members and these companies. Several of the properties were confiscated after he was declared a “fugitive economic offender” in December 2019.
The bank and lenders’ consortium had objected to the confiscation, as the properties had been mortgaged with them when Modi and Choksi availed of Letters of Undertaking (LOUs).
The court has now also directed the PNB to give an undertaking to return the properties or their value if directed in future. PTI
A consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India on Friday realized Rs. 792.11 crore by sale of shares in the bank loan fraud case involving Kingfisher Airlines and its former owner and fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya.
Earlier SBI led consortium had realized Rs. 7181.50 crore by liquidating assets handed over to SBI led consortium by ED, the agency said in a press statement on Friday.
In addition, Rs. 1060 crore worth asset has been allowed to the banks by Fugitive Economic Offense Court in PNB/ Nirav Modi Case & Rs. 329.67 Crore has been confiscated by ED under provisions of Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, the agency added.
On July 1 Purvi Modi (sister of Nirav Modi) transferred Rs. 17.25 crore from proceeds of Crime from her foreign bank account to ED.
Few days back, ED has further handed over assets worth Rs. 3728.64 Crore to the SBI led consortium including shares of Rs. 3644.74 Crore, Demand Draft of Rs. 54.33 Crore and immovable properties worth Rs. 29.57 Crore.
The statement issued by the agency further added that Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have defrauded Public Sector Banks by siphoning off the funds through their companies which resulted in total loss of Rs.22,585.83 Crore to the banks.
Till date ED has transferred assets worth Rs. 12,762.25 Crore to the Public Sector Banks and confiscated assets of Rs. 329.67 Crore. ED had also recovered Rs. 17.25 Crore from Purvi Modi. As on date, assets worth 58% of total loss to the banks have been handed over to Banks/confiscated to government of India.
The agency claimed that till date it has attached/seized assets of Rs. 18,217.27 Crore under the provision of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
